The Teacher Training Chronicles // Pt 1.

Last September I began my journey as a trainee teacher, and I'm now just days away from finishing my course and being able to say "I'm an English teacher" without feeling like I've got to justify it with a "well, I'm a trainee...".


I can honestly say that the course I undertook was challenging for a range of reasons, one of which was just the personal side of things... coming to terms with the position of responsibility I'll have, realising that between the hours of 7.30 and 4 I am not a kid, I'm an adult and finally, realising that there is so, so much still to learn.

Let's start from the beginning...

July 2014 I was 22, finishing my first year as a Learning Support Assistant. I'd done alright given I had no previous experience in schools or with young people. I'd had my fair share of work-cries due to some difficult situations and survived my first Oftsed inspection as an "additional adult". Things were going really well until the last week of term when I suddenly realised I didn't know if I was making the right decision by deciding to train as a teacher. What if I wasn't smart enough? What if I was too young at 22 to choose to educate people who were only 9 years younger than I was? What if the sixth form didn't take me seriously as a teacher, especially as there was less than 5 years between some of us? What if the experienced teachers didn't take me seriously because I was so young?

Mainly, what if I was shit?

So, I let those questions hover over me. I did a moderate melt-down over other personal issues which hindered my ability to do...well...anything for a while. Once I'd got myself together I did a bit of research into my chosen career and training path, read some books from the exam specification but mainly, I enjoyed my summer holidays with some of my favourite people before facing reality.

The 4th of September looked a lot like this...

The 5th of September was more like this...

And then September - June was a mixture of 

There's a slight pattern.. my laptop, pyjamas, lesson plans lots of paper and just enough time to Instagram it all too.

But, I survived! As a terrible student at 15, an okay student at 18 and an "out-of-my-depth" student at 23 I think I've done alright making it this far; just two days away from getting QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) and embarking on my NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) year. 

I'm so, so pleased and proud of myself but mostly I am TIRED! I'm tired physically, mentally, emotionally but I'm loving life at the front of the classroom every day.

Part II is in the pipeline - what would you like to know about my training path? Let me know!

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